PORTUGAL
Nervy SL Benfica grab win
Premier League leaders SL Benfica grabbed a nervous a 2-1 win at CS Maritimo on Monday thanks to a Lima penalty and a second-half own-goal to keep their four-point lead over second-placed Porto. Brazilian striker Lima grabbed an early opener from the penalty spot for Benfica, who knew a win would bring them closer to a 33rd league title, but Maritimo defender Igor Rossi equalized for the hosts. Benfica came out strongly in the second half and Rossi turned villain for Maritimo when he deflected Eduardo Salvio’s cross into his own net after 72 minutes.
BRAZIL
Luxemburgo suspended
Gremio coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo has been suspended for six South American matches for his part in a brawl at the end of his team’s Copa Libertadores match away to Chile’s CD Huachipato. The former Real Madrid and Brazil coach, alleged to have sparked the brawl, was also fined US$25,000 by the South American Football Confederation, which posted the sanctions on its Web site on Monday. Luxemburgo appeared to make fun of his Chilean opponents after the final whistle of the decisive group match in the southern Chilean city of Talcahuano. There were bans and fines for other members of Gremio’s coaching staff and the players.
GREECE
PAOK sack coach Donis
PAOK have sacked coach Giorgos Donis, the Super League club said on Monday. PAOK finished runners-up in the regular season ahead of the playoffs, but were knocked out of the Greek Cup by PAE Asteras Tripolis on Saturday, missing out on a final with Olympiakos. “PAOK announces that it has decided to terminate the contract with coach Giorgos Donis for perfectly good reasons which are his own fault,” PAOK said in a statement on their Web site. “With regard to the events of recent days and the painful elimination from the Greek Cup, we feel the need to apologize to all our fans who traveled to Tripoli, and also for those who dreamed about our participation in the final.” Technical director Giorgos Georgiadis will replace Donis until the end of the season.
SWEDEN
Lone fan offered paid trip
Standing strong alone has paid off for one supporter cheering on Swedish team IF Brommapojkarna in an away match against Mjallby AIF. Dressed in the team’s red-and-black shirt, 57-year-old Anders Ung was the only person in the section for visiting fans as Brommapojkarna lost the match 4-2 on Sunday. His unflinching support so impressed Brommapojkarna midfielder Bojan Djordjic, a former youth player at Manchester United, that he offered to buy Ung a trip to Stockholm so he could watch a home game. Ung, who lives in southern Sweden, told newspaper Aftonbladet that he was humbled by the offer, but would prefer to pay his own fare.
RUSSIA
Official banned for life
A match official has been banned for life after attacking a player during a youth match. Assistant referee Musa Kadyrov rushed onto the field near the end of Friday’s game between Terek Grozny and visiting Amkar Perm and shoved and punched Amkar’s Ilya Krichmar. The official reportedly believed the player had been insulting him. R-Sport cited Lom-Ali Ibragimov, president of the region’s soccer federation, as saying that Kadyrov has been banned from officiating at all matches for life.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set